: Generate a public link to share a specific replay with anyone outside your organization.
import posthog from 'posthog-js'; posthog.init(' ', // Point to your local proxy or local Docker instance api_host: 'http://localhost:8080', // Disable automatic tracking that relies on immediate cloud validation loaded: function(ph) console.log("Portable PostHog initialized successfully."); , // Enable session replay features disable_session_recording: false, enable_recording_console_log: true, // Prevent posthog from retrying infinitely in memory if the connection drops request_headers: 'X-Portable-Agent': 'Local-Buffer-v1' ); Use code with caution. Step 2: Build the Lightweight Local Proxy
If you only need the recordings without the overhead of the PostHog ingestion engine, you can bypass the PostHog backend entirely during collection.
Understanding how users interact with your application is no longer a luxury—it is a core product requirement. While traditional analytics tools provide quantitative data like page views and click counts, they often miss the qualitative context. They tell you what happened, but not why it happened. posthog session replay portable
Since you can integrate with your own logging infrastructure, your session replays can be directly linked to your internal database entries.
This means replays aren’t just “playback files” trapped in a viewer—they’re you can analyze alongside your own models.
To view your recordings without the main cloud dashboard, you can build a minimalist React or Vue application that embeds the open-source PostHog replay viewer or the raw rrweb-player . Simply query your local storage file, feed the JSON array into the player, and watch the user journey unfold frame-by-frame. Optimizing for Portability: Performance & Storage : Generate a public link to share a
The PostHog player reads this JSON stream and reconstructs the website inside an isolated sandbox, mimicking a video.
If a device is offline and its system clock is inaccurate or altered by the user, the recorded events will map incorrectly onto PostHog’s timeline when uploaded later.
Define clear automated schedules for your data. For example, keep rich session replays in PostHog Cloud for 30 days for immediate engineering triage. Use a data pipeline to export those replays to AWS S3 Glacier or Google Cloud Storage Coldline for a 180-day compliance window, after which they are permanently purged. Conclusion Understanding how users interact with your application is
For teams needing automated, large-scale extraction, PostHog's API is your primary interface.
You can save those JSON payloads to your own database or local storage.
| Feature | PostHog Cloud (SaaS) | Portable (Self-Host) | |---------|----------------------|----------------------| | Data residency | EU/US only | Anywhere you deploy | | Export raw replays | Limited (via API) | Full database access | | Maintenance | None | Team handles upgrades | | Cost | Free tier + usage | Infrastructure + support (optional) |